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Hain Celestial must deal with arsenic claim in child food labeling claim

A U.S. judge said Hain Celestial Group need to deal with a proposed class action claiming its labels stopped working to reveal the alleged presence of arsenic in a few of its baby food.

U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison in Brooklyn said parents plausibly alleged that some of Hain's Earth's Finest Child Food products exceeded acknowledged safe thresholds for arsenic, and that this would be material to sensible consumers choosing whether to pay additional for healthy, safe food for their children.

In her choice on Friday, Morrison dismissed similar claims over the supposed existence in infant food of other heavy metals consisting of lead, cadmium and mercury, discovering no clear standard at which their presence would be unsafe for children.

Shares of Hain fell as much as 7.2% on Monday.

In looking for a dismissal, the Hoboken, New Jersey-based business stated the parents did not have standing to take legal action against since they might disappoint harm to themselves or their kids.

Hain also said the parents did not plausibly declare its labeling was misleading, and that heavy metals unavoidably. exist in active ingredients that grow in soil or water.

Neither Hain nor its lawyers immediately responded to. ask for comment on Monday. Lawyers for the parents did not. immediately react to comparable requests.

The suit is one of lots of implicating baby food producers of. concealing toxic levels of heavy metals in infant food.

Offenders in comparable nationwide lawsuits in San Francisco. federal court include Beech-Nut, Nestle's Gerber,. Danone's Nurture and Walmart, in addition to Hain. They have also denied that their infant food is hazardous.

Parents sued after a 2021 report by a U.S. Home of. Agents subcommittee on economic and consumer policy. stated harmful levels of heavy metals in some baby food could. cause neurological damage.

The case is In re Hain Celestial Heavy Metals Baby Food. Lawsuits, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York,. No. 21-00678.

(source: Reuters)